Chapter 121: Red and White's Encounter with Ishibashi Kiyomine

  The Japanese stage has many places worth learning from for China, and in fact it is. If someone has seen the various evening parties of Japan in the 80s, they will be surprised to find that not only have many songs been covered by China, but also the setting of the stage scenery has learned a lot from the past.

  However, this is not something to be ashamed of. Any country that rises from the bottom up will basically have such a situation, and even Japan is no exception. If a Japanese person jumps out and says that Chinese people are copying, Chinese people can confidently retort: "Didn't you Japanese people also frantically copy Germany and America thirty years ago?"

  At this point, they have no way to refute it.

  When Zhou Xiao followed a large group of familiar and unfamiliar singers to the stage, singing songs like "Unforgettable Tonight", he himself didn't have much excitement or inexpressible emotions, and it could even be said that Zhou Xiao was somewhat out of character. However, he still sang with all his might, showing off an appearance of thoroughly enjoying this stage.

  Just then, Zhou Xiao felt someone slap his shoulder.

  This is on stage, this is live broadcast, the melody of the song and the singing voice of the people around me are ringing in my ears, Zhou Xiao didn't think that someone would take a picture of herself at this time, so she was startled.

  Turning back, Zhou Xiao saw a very long face, it was really very long, long enough to go directly to Xiangya Mountain Resort.

  Of course, the tall face of Ivory Mountain can't be compared to this one. The wife of this tall face is Suzuki Bona, the dream lover of all Asian men in the 90s. This person is none other than Ishibashi Takafumi, who has a connection with Zhou Xiao. While making exaggerated singing mouth shapes, Ishibashi pointed to the side of the stage, implying that Zhou Xiao should stay after the show and chat with him. As for what they would talk about, Zhou Xiao wasn't worried. If he were still a comedian, Ishibashi could tease him all he wanted, but now Zhou Xiao is a singer. Although Ishibashi also appeared on Red and White as a singer, the generational difference between singers isn't as intense as it is for comedians, not to mention they belong to different categories. Zhou Xiao didn't do anything wrong, so he guessed that this tall face must have recognized him and wanted to explain something about what happened before.

  Humming and hahaha, after finishing the song, some of the singers from the Red and White Song Festival quickly put down their microphones and rushed out. Most of these people were rushing to perform at TBS's New Year's Eve concert or Johnny's own New Year's concert. The remaining people seemed not in a hurry at all, slowly packing up their things. The ones who ran away earlier were mostly younger. Those left behind were mostly older, having mixed for decades, and the only stage worth performing on was the Red and White Festival as old-timers.

  Among them, Zhou Xiao was an obvious exception. He didn't need to rush off for the TBS show and walked off the stage with Ishibashi Takafumi.

  "That time... was it you?" After the surroundings had quieted down a bit, Ishibashi Takamasa turned around and asked Zhou Xiao.

  "Ah... it was me." Zhou Xiao nodded, and the two people's intersection only happened once, Shi Qiao Guiming obviously asked about that.

  "I want to apologize to you, I didn't help you much at that time, and also made you..."

  "It's nothing much, I guess you could say I've turned a curse into a blessing. Otherwise, I might still be doing comedy as an ordinary comedian."

  "No, you'd be great as a comedian too, I can tell from that joke. And it's not just comedy, I've been paying attention to you lately, and I'm not someone who hasn't seen talented people before - there was this fat guy who knew a lot of things like you do, but if I had to compare...I think you're even more amazing." said Ishibashi Takamasa.

  "You're overpraising me." Zhou Xiao hastily said. The person that Ishibashi Takafumi was talking about must be Akimoto Yasushi, this fat man is a very famous program producer, Zhou Xiao also produced the "Final Exam" project to show off his own production skills, Akimoto Yasushi has written many song lyrics, this is something that Zhou Xiao will have difficulty surpassing in his lifetime, because this fat man created the song "Endless River", the historical status of this song, even if Zhou Xiao's "Small Love" sells 8 million copies, it would still be far from comparable. Akimoto Yasushi also makes movies and writes, like "The Back" which not only became a book but was also made into an anime, as for directing movie and anime works, even in the year 2000 there are several, he is absolutely one of Japan's most talented people, however Ishibashi Takafumi saying that Akimoto Yasushi can't compare to Zhou Xiao in this aspect also has reason, at least Akimoto Yasushi hasn't released a single.

  "Can you play golf?" Ishibashi Takamasa asked suddenly.

  "Golf? No way... Zhou Xiao was just a loser in his past life, he wouldn't have had any chance to come into contact with golf."

  "It's worth trying out, it will be very useful for socializing in the future," said Ishibashi Takamasa.

  "Yes, I will go learn." Zhou Xiao hastily nodded and said.

  "Don't go by yourself, you'll end up wasting a lot of money. This is what I'll do, all the golf courses near Tokyo are closed anyway, I have membership at a golf course in Okinawa, I'll introduce you there in a few days," said Ishibashi Takamitsu.

  Zhou Xiao Ting gasped in shock, this is what it means to be a high-society person, making money in Tokyo and going to Okinawa for leisure is like going to their own backyard.

  "I'm counting on you then." Zhou Xiao hastily replied. Running to the exclusive golf course to play would absolutely not be cheap, but since Ishibashi Takamasa had spoken up, Zhou Xiao estimated that there was an 80% chance he would help pay for the membership fees. Ishibashi Takamasa was a well-known kind and gentle person in Japan's entertainment circle, and now he was inviting him like this, it was clear that he was apologizing for not helping him before. Going to play golf wasn't just about having fun, it was an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with high-level figures in Japan. Zhou Xiao could now be said to have turned a misfortune into good fortune.

  "That's okay, I'll leave then. I've left my phone with my agent, so it should be fine to contact your company when the time comes?" asked Ishibashi Takamasa.

  "Of course, no problem!" Zhou Xiao replied. Whatever phone was handed to the agent was just an excuse. Shi Qiao's meaning was simple: I'm just paying off a debt, and our relationship hasn't reached the point of exchanging phone numbers yet. After all, he is a super giant comedian, and one has to maintain some dignity.

  After seeing Ishibashi Gou off, Inoue-san who had been waiting on the side came over: "You'd better try your best to get on this show. No matter how good your relationship with Johnny's is, in Japan, TV shows are controlled by big shots in the comedy industry. Compared to them, idols are just supporting actors at most. And if these people were to appear on an idol's show, they could take over the lead role in an instant."

  "Yes, I understand!" Zhou Xiao Shen nodded in agreement. Uncle Inoue's words were absolutely right. In his previous life, he had watched the Arashi segment on Matsuoka Shunsuke's show, and these five members of Arashi were undoubtedly one of the top idol groups after 2010. However, when the five of them got together, they were still easily controlled by Matsuoka Shunsuke, who was a master of talking arts. It could be said that Japan's top comedians are among the best in the world.

  "Come on, let's go home," said Uncle Inoue.

  "Go home!" Zhou Xiao said with emotion, but in his heart he was thinking: "When can I really go back to my own home..."

  Sitting on the train at the station, Zhou Xiao looked out of the window at the flashing neon lights with a sense of melancholy. He had wanted to be the king of this city, but now he seemed like just a passerby. The year 2000 was about to pass, and 2001 was approaching. It would still take more than four years for AKB48 to be formed. Four years later, even if he couldn't dominate the Japanese entertainment industry, could he at least become a big shot in it?

  But before that...

  "Hey, Inoue-san, we're going this way... wait, isn't that wrong?" Zhou Xiao sat up straight and asked. Although she wasn't very familiar with Tokyo, after running around the streets for half a year, at least when it came to the way home, Zhou Xiao could still figure it out. But the road Inoue-san was taking clearly wasn't the way back to his own house.

  ps：

  Thank you for the reward of "Cucumber Fried Quail Egg". I've made up my mind, starting from May 1st, there will be 4 updates. The exact number of days is not yet determined, but it will be at least more than a week. At that time, everyone's monthly votes, rewards and recommendation tickets will be greatly appreciated!